


Infinity

by ultimatequesadilla



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 06:56:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4338380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultimatequesadilla/pseuds/ultimatequesadilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Homeworld reveals their new technology, an infinite fusion of the clones known as Industrial Diamonds, the entire planet Earth is put in danger. The battle that ensues is legendary in proportion, but in the end, they lose more than they gain. As they travel across the galaxy, the Crystal Gems are forced to deal with this new loss and Pearl to reconcile her instinctual devotion to Rose Quartz--but when they arrive at Homeworld, everything changes. Whether it is for better or worse, no one can say. [Canon has replaced nearly everything in it but I'm still going to finish it as planned.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Infinity

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to sassymissmaryam on tumblr for helping me come up with this AU back after the first Stevenbomb.

“Mistress!” came a shout. Yellow Diamond turned, slamming her fist into the control deck and cursing.  
“What!?” she shouted. Her voice echoed off the walls and pillars, bouncing back until it formed an angered chorus. The steel-gray pearl who stood at the door trembled, raised a shaking hand to her forehead in a terrified salute.  
“W-we have word from the Primary,” she stuttered, gulping. In her other hand she held a comm screen, on which green text danced.  
Yellow Diamond straightened, her expression falling until it was nearly serene. The corner of her mouth twitched up into a grin.  
“That’s good. Pearl, you may go. Leave the comm on the table.” She stretched, sighing as her shoulder popped.  
The pearl nodded quickly and carefully laid the comm screen on the table, alongside a cup and plate that had evidently been there for days.  
“May I take your dishes, Mis--”  
“Take them.” Yellow Diamond waved the pearl away, and she hurried down the hall, dishes in hand. Her footsteps quieted until they fell silent altogether.  
Yellow Diamond picked up the comm screen and scanned the text.  
Primary Cloning Facility has reached maximum capacity.  
Industrial batch 273 will be complete in: 2.36 days.  
Infinifusion calibration: 89% complete.  
She grinned and laid it on the control deck. She punched a set of coordinates into the panel--it beeped, and a stiff mechanical voice repeated the numbers.  
She pressed the start button and the ship jolted. 

The journey wasn’t a long one, by galactic standards; still, by the time she reached Primary, the comm screen read that the Industrials had been completed two hours prior.  
Yellow Diamond stepped down the ramp, feet clicking against the glossy metal, and raised a hand in greeting to the gem that stood on the runway. Aventurine held up the clipboard in her hands, her smile widening.  
“Yellow Diamond! They’re just coming out of their pods!”  
Yellow Diamond looked around. Sure enough, in all directions there were tiny slender gems crawling from what almost looked like cracks in the mountains. Several were close enough to see in more detail.  
They looked almost like pearls, but they were jet black, opaque, with irregular gems of the same color set into their chests and foreheads. They wore no clothes and their entire bodies were made of facets; it seemed to Yellow Diamond that they had become entirely made of their gem. Which was most likely accurate.  
The most unsettling thing about them was that they had no eyes. They continued forward as if they could see, but their faces were entirely blank. Yellow Diamond shuddered.  
She continued the rest of the way down the ramp and it retracted with a whirrr. She brushed off one knee and turned toward Aventurine.  
“And the Infinifusion?” she asked.  
“The calibration is up to ninety percent, but they aren’t independent yet. They can only operate as a fusion under the control of a trained gem.” As Aventurine spoke, she gestured for Yellow Diamond to follow. They walked past a small compound where a few rarer gems were sitting, some playing games, some arguing, and a few just staring off into the distance. Yellow Gem thought she spotted a ruby. “We have several candidates here, who have been training for years,” Aventurine continued. “They must be incredibly powerful. Infini won’t just answer to anyone.”  
“Infini?” Yellow Diamond turned her head. “You’ve named it?”  
“Her. I’ve named her.” Aventurite squealed. “She’s beautiful, you know. All swirly and shiny. You’ll have to see her in action.”  
“Well,” Yellow Diamond stepped onto a rock and looked around once more. More Industrials had crawled from the planet, and they were crowding in a single valley. Hundreds, no, thousands of them. It was perfect. “They’ll have the chance when we execute the plan.

****************

Pearl awoke with a scream. This was only the second time she had ever slept, yet her dream still felt very very real.  
She blinked the afterimage of Malachite’s sneer from her eyes, wiped her hands on the carpet to try and clean off the sticky crimson she felt must still be there, for how else could she have felt it so clearly?  
That was all she had seen, in her dream. Malachite smiling down at her as she lifted her hands to find blood dripping, dripping from them.  
She sat with a groan. The house was silent; Steven was at the beach with Garnet, Greg was off in his van, and Amethyst was doing God-knows-what. Probably eating something not meant to be eaten.  
Pearl shuddered. She stood and brushed off her skirt. She stepped down the stairs and into the kitchen, where sure enough Amethyst was sitting by the fridge eating a tub of ice cream, container and all.  
“How do you manage to do that…?” she grumbled. Amethyst shrugged.  
“‘S not like we eat anyway! ‘S just fun!” She swallowed the rest of the container whole and shut the fridge door. “What’s got your panties in a twist now? Fusion issues?”  
Amethyst’s voice still held some contempt, and Pearl shut her eyes for a good long moment. Amethyst had forgiven her more quickly than Garnet had, regarding the Sardonyx incident, but neither of them could get past it even after a month.  
Pearl got herself a glass of water, figuring it would be refreshing. She wished she could ask Garnet about what she had seen in the dream, but she feared that she would only revert to her prior anger at the slightest word. Her future vision would be the best thing for this.  
It was the tint of the blood that worried Pearl. It wasn’t blue, or purple or maroon.  
It was red. Bright, crimson red, like a human’s. She’d had a human’s blood on her hands, and humans couldn’t regenerate.  
Pearl took a deep breath.  
“No, I’m serious.” Amethyst put her hands on the counter and waved her legs back and forth. “You look pretty pale.”  
“I’m fine.” Pearl smiled a bit. “Just a bad dream, that was all.”  
“You tried to sleep again?” Amethyst asked, perking up and leaning forward. “How was it?”  
“It...well, let’s just say I’m not trying it again.” Pearl scratched the back of her neck. “It’s not that I don’t like sleep. It’s what comes with it I’m not fond of.”  
Amethyst nodded as if in understanding. Pearl rolled her eyes--how could Amethyst understand when she had never dreamed once?  
She took a water bottle from the fridge and strode toward the door.  
“I’m going to take this to Steven. Want to come?” She inclined her head toward the beach. Amethyst shrugged.  
“Sure, whatever you say.”  
Pearl would have to deal with Garnet when she got there. For now, she skipped lightly out the door, trying to put up a pretense of happiness. The water in the bottle swished.  
The beach was warm, and the sand nearly burned her toes. The ocean reflected colors of the sunset, which seemed to highlight Garnet’s pink bathing suit and Steven’s red trunks.  
Garnet had insisted on shapeshifting into swimwear. Pearl hadn’t a clue why, but it was Garnet’s prerogative and she had learned not to mess with that.  
“Hey Steven!” Pearl shouted. Steven looked up and waved. “I brought you some water!” Pearl waved the water bottle into the air and Steven ran toward her, grinning.  
“I found some awesome seashells!” he beamed, holding a few conch shells toward her. Pearl took one in her hand and turned it over. There was a tiny crab inside. She yelped. “Oh yeah, one of them has a lil’ guy in it!” Steven continued. Pearl chuckled.  
Garnet ignored her. She sighed. Steven took the water bottle.  
“Thanks, Pearl!” he said, squeezing her hand, and ran back toward the ocean. Garnet waved at him.  
Pearl took a deep breath and stood back on her heels. Amethyst stood beside her. She raised her eyebrows.  
“Garnet’ll take a while,” she stated. “She’s still pretty mad.” She accentuated each syllable in the last words. “Ah well. Steven got his water. I--what the h--” Amethyst trailed off and squinted. Pearl followed her gaze.  
Something was churning in the ocean. Garnet took steven and ran from the water, as far up the beach as they could get. Pearl stared wide-eyed as something rose from the ocean depths.  
Malachite. It was Malachite. Pearl clenched her fists. She was shaking.  
Malachite grinned.  
“It’s my turn, now!” she yelled. Her tone dripped with the condescension that Jasper held in every word she spoke.  
So Jasper had finally gotten the upper hand.  
Malachite crawled closer to the shore. Pearl took her weapon and held it out beside her; Amethyst did the same.  
Malachite sneered. Pearl’s heart fell.  
Oh no, she thought. No, no, no. She had no future vision, she reminded herself, she wasn’t Garnet. She wasn’t Garnet.  
She wasn’t Garnet.


End file.
